HARDMODE... FROM BEHIND (GM)

[Lucien DeChain]

OR HE... WOULD FIND... YOU!

Lucien would follow Delilah as she gave orders to her Tengu, shadowing her as he would subtly give her a simple signal that let her know he was invisible and not a threat. The agreed upon signal... blowing on the back of the neck.

Once they were a fair enough distance away from the group, Lucien would remain invisible, but begin to speak.

"Delilah. You need to know what happened out here. Things aren't as they seem."

[Your Mom~]

Olesya fell into step, healing as she could with her Qi. However, it was wearing on her, making her more tired and dizzy as she went. She felt like she'd gone a week without sleep.

She wavered a bit as she used her Qi infused water on a man with a burn across his face. The water soothed his skin from a harsh red to a soft pink, and she stumbled, catching herself on the cot.

"Hm..I think I should sit for a second.."

She muttered to herself so no one could hear in the din of the chaos.

[Arianna Barrial]

Oomph! Arianna exhaled as her sister's arms banded tightly around her--she was so strong. Though her eyes watered, she lifted her hands and brushed them against the curly blonde locks...and planted a kiss on top of her head.

Later. All things could come later.

She pulled away, gently but insistently, and turned her attention to Delilah as she issued orders. The woman's eyebrows raised, but she flashed a smile and nodded, taking a good look at Talon so she wouldn't lose him. She moved back to Odin, retrieved her bag.

"Yes, that's impressive. Thank you. Talon? My name is Arianna--let's go." She turned, but looked to David, her lips twisting in a wry smile - 'Amazing how they look so similar.' - before she slipped away to find the nearest, most seriously injured, and start to work.


Odin had observed Delilah's response and simply nodded. It would do. The woman was clever and used the people and resources she had very wisely. He watched Arianna...and then looked to the small blonde that was coming out of her shell-shocked state. His one good eye...seemed to soften--but only a little. His lips curved up...pleased and proud and even relieved.

"We shall talk, later, as she said. Go--your comrades need your aid, as well."

[David B.]

David turned, blinking at the girl as she hugged her sister. He saw it now- how they had similar features. How they looked at one another. He was told the woman was dead and therefore never expected to run into her. He watched them for a moment, listened to them talk, before turning his eyes back to Odin. Their grandfather? Strange. He never knew it, and Kiyr never told him. He would glance At Olesyas retreating back after issuing a few orders to assist Arianna in the healing process, following after her.

When he saw her stumble after healing, he stepped forward and would attempt to catch her by the arm and help her sit.

"Yeah- time for you to rest. Thats an order."

He turned to August.

"Get the men packed up. Leave a detachment of fifty here for defense and for continued pursuit of anyone alive in the rubble."

[Delilah A. Black]

Delilah gave a small start as there was a small burst of warm air at the base of her neck. She whirled around...only to find Lucien.

She tossed her head back in exasperation. "Good LORD, we need a better way of doing that--wait" her head came back down as she looked at him with a puzzled look. "What happened?"

[Lucien DeChain]

Lucien couldn't stop himself from rambling, at this point he just needed to spit out as much as possible.

We were fighting, and winning, and I looked over to Mathew fighting Barker... S-Someone appeared behind Barker, just for a second, and snapped his neck..."

gulp

"It was John Strike."

[Delilah A. Black]

Mathew fighting Barker...standard. She had wondered where he had gotten to. And where Barker was, for that matter. Probably fled, by her estimation.

"It was John Strike"

"WHAT?!"

Qi shot out of her body in large spikes--just stopping short of Lucien, some bending around him. Her hair shot backwards from her head, a silver array of spikes spreading out from her face like a crown...or liberty spikes.

"EXPLAIN."

[Kyrie Blaze]

The blonde stepped back, still having a difficult time believing what was right before her eyes. She heaved a breath and looked to...Odin as he spoke. Authoritative...but not necessarily cold. She nodded, acting on the familiar ring of it she hadn't heard in longer than the three years since Barker dropped his bombs.

She turned, crouching near Chase's body and shifted his arm in preparation to curl it over her shoulder so she could drag him off where her sister requested. A small green candy fell from his hand. She frowned and pocketed it...and then moved him so she could continue administering field treatments to her kin in something more than blood.

[Lucien DeChain]

The spikes just barely missed Lucien, and it gave him quite the scare. Yelping a bit as he tried his hardest to stay still, closing his eyes so he didn't have to see the spikes flying towards his eyeballs. A few seconds later, he was able to speak.

"Strike appeared out of nowhere, broke Barker's neck, and then disappeared along with the remaining generals. It was really as sudden as that..." He thought back to that moment of shock, of fear. Of what-the-fuck-ness. He shuddered.

[Aryn Valcoph]

It was a little while later that Aryn pushed back up to her feet to help, the shock at a more manageable level now that her body wasn't freaking from the pain and multiple broken bones.

She would really have to pay a visit to Delilah and thank her~

And the man that scooped her up from the rubble.

Before, however, she went to go help, she meandered over to the dead, dead, dead'r-than-a-doornail warrior and gave his body a good, solid, HOOF of a kick. Right to the ribcage. With a satisfying crack that told her she'd busted the dead man's ribs, she noted a small green...thing - candy? - and a black orb.

Only it wasn't an 'orb', necessarily. Or was it? When she picked it up, it wasn't something hard...but neither was it liquid. It was about the size of a small orange, but a charcoal grey colour.

Odd.

Even stranger, still, was that it started to vibrate and morph in her hand.

"--the fuck--?!"

She nearly dropped it as it shifted, quickly, to something she didn't expect...but totally should have. In her hand was a giant. horsecock. dildo. Aryn laughed and let out a low whistle.

"Damn. Okay. This day went from war, to pain, to awesome in about half an hour."

And off she went after - because what the hell - she popped that green candy into her mouth. Don't you put it in your mouth? Pfffffffff. Bitch, please.

[Arianna Barrial]

It was later when, her pack clasped to her chest, she stepped out of the makeshift tents, feeling dehydrated and exhausted: mentally and even physically. The blonde moved around the tent in the Californian sun and stopped to look down at the body of the soldier her sister had been distinctly emotional over.

She crouched, setting the bag by her feet. Her stomach churned, but felt warm. She pulled in a deep breath and looked around. Too many people. Too many eyes and ears. They would hear and come running. And her sister? Her sister, right now, was nowhere to be found. It was very likely she was helping the other soldiers. She reached out and gently smoothed her hand across his forehead. His eyes were closed.

He seemed peaceful, this warrior, this person she didn't even know.

For her sister, she would do anything. But this? Sometimes...sometimes there had to be loss, and there had to be meaningful loss so that people understood the price of these ventures. And because she had an extreme amount of empathy - as she had to, as a medical professional - she felt for Kyrie, for the others that lost loved ones. She felt, still, for the lives she hadn't been able to get to in time to help.

She would move the very Earth for Kyrie...but this wasn't something she could do. The consequences of her choice were too great in comparison to the good it would do.

A couple tears slid down her cheeks and she allowed her hand to slip down and gently cup his jaw.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

With a sniff to hold back the tears - there was still too much to be done - she pushed to her feet after scooping up her bag...and looked back to her grandfather. To Odin. Arianna shook her head, slowly, regretting the decision somewhat - she had the power to help, but how many others would beg and force her to do it over and over again? - but at the same time there was a sense of peace that only came with doing what was right.

Odin's lips curved, subtly, but it was the slight nod of approval from the man who traded an eye for infinite wisdom. He was, if nothing else, quietly proud of his eldest granddaughter's wisdom.

He didn't need to say anything. The gestures, the look in his eyes, said enough. The blonde moved back to his side with a residual sniff, the sorrow of the day getting to her. There was still work to be done, so she couldn't let it bleed out of herself just yet.

Arianna nodded, her light-honey eyes clearing as she drew on her strength of will to see her through this last little bit of time. With her self-assurance intact, she cleared her throat, took a deep breath, and moved to help shift bodies to take them back to their respective homes...or be piled and burned, here, if they were the "enemy".